Rug-hanger.



. A. GLEARY & G. A. JOHNSON.

RUG HANGER. APPLICATION FILED June, 1913.

1,088,128. Patented F6824, 1914.

77 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. A. GLEARY & G. A'. JOHNSON.

RUG HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED June, 1913.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914. z SHEETS-[SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COAVWASHINUTON, D. c.

TINTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. CLEARY AND CARL A. JOHNSON, 0F ESCANABA, MICHIGAN.

RUG-HANGER.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS A. CLEARY and CARL A. JOHNSON, citizens ofthe United States of America, and residents of Escanaba, county ofDelta, and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rug-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form ofhanger for suspending articles in position for display; to provide ahanger of this class particularly adapted for suspending carpets, rugs,Wall paper etc. to provide improved means actu ated by the weight ofarticles for gripping them in suspended position on the hanger; toprovide improved means for retracting the gripping means so as toefi'ect the release of the articles; to provide improved means forlocking the gripping means in gripping posltion; and to provide improvedmeans for supporting the hanger with the article in position thereon.

An illustrative embodiment of this inven-' tion is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective vlew of thehanger. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing in full outline the partsshifted to their retracted positions and in dotted outline the partsshifted to their extended positions. Fig. 3 is an end view of thehanger. Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation taken on the line AA ofFig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an improved form of rack forsupporting a plurality of hangers in position thereon. For the sake ofclearness of the illustration all but one of the sets of hangers andtheir supporting brackets are omitted. Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentarysectional detail of a part of the rack as viewed from the plane of aline BB of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail ofthe base of the rack, the section being taken on the line CC of Fig. 5.Fig. 8 is a view taken on the line DD of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a sideelevation of the supporting member for the hanger showing the method ofattaching the adjacent end of the hanger thereto.

In the construction shown in the drawings the hanger comprises a pair ofmembers 1 and 2 connected together by the links 3 in such manner thatthe members are movable toward and away from each other while remainingalways in substantially parallel relation. The links 3 have integrallyformed Specification of Letters latent.

Application filed January 16, 1913.

Patented Feb. 24:, 1914:.

Serial No. 742,416.

thereon the arms 4 which extend upwardly at the rear of the member 1 andhave a depending part 5 at the front of the member 1. The part 5 is bentinwardly at its lower end to form a shoulder 6 which is adapted to coactwith the inclined ledge or shoulder 7 for .gripping articles such asrugs carpets etc., between them whereby they are suspended in positionto be displayed. The shoulders 7 are formed on the member 1 by twistingthe same as will be obvious from the figures. The shoulders 6 arepreferably provided with a friction surface herein shown in the form ofa rubber cap 8.

In order to prevent the shoulders 6 from passing below the inclinedledges '7, the separation of the members 1 and 2 is limited by the bars9 depending from the supporting member 1 and having a hook 10 formed atthe lower end thereof for receiving the member 2. The members 1 and 2may be locked in their extended positions, for securing the shoulders 6and 7 in gripping engagement, by means of an arm 11 pivoted at one endof the member 1 and having a forked portion 12 adapted to straddle themember 2, as shown in Fig. 1.

The member 1 of the hanger is provided with an integral extension 13which is adapted to be received in the supporting member 14 for thepurpose of supporting the hanger on a rack similar to the one shown inFig.' 5. The supporting member 14 is provided with a pair of lugs orshoulders 15 and 16 spaced apart vertically and horizontally. Thevertical spacing of the lugs 15 and 16 is substantially equal to thewidth of the extension 18 minus the depth of the notch 17 in which thelug 15 is received. The lug 16 is spaced forwardly of the lug 15 so thatwhen the extension 13 is inserted into the recess formed between theshoulders 15 and 16 and the sides of the supporting member 14, theextension bears downwardly upon the lug 16 and upwardly against the lug15 which is received in the notch 17.

The supporting member 1 1 is provided with trunnions 18 and 19 which areadapted to be received in the apertures 20 formed in the angle bars 21and '22. The supporting member 14 is thus rotatably supported on avertically disposed aXis so that the hanger and the article supportedthereby can be swung in a vertical position through a considerableangle. The bars 21 and 22 are provided with a plurality of apertures 20so that a plurality of the supporting members 14; may be insertedwhereby a number of hangers are supported on the rack.

. The angle bars 21 and 22 are supported on the standards 23 by means ofthe rings 24 which embrace the standards 23 and which are provided withfingers 25 adapted to be drawn together by the bolts and nuts 26 for thepurpose of clamping the rings 2& in position on the standards 23 andsecuring one flange of the angle bars between them. The standards 23 aresecured in the castings 27 which are slidably mounted on the basemembers 28. The base members 28 are secured together in spaced relationby means of the transverse member 29 which is also secured-in thecastings 27.

The castings 27 are secured to the base members 28, standards 23'andtransverse part 29 by means of set screws 30. The base members 28 areprovided with casters 31 whereby the rack is readily transported fromplace to place.

The operation of the device is as follows: When a rug, carpet, or otherarticle is to be supported on the hanger, the members 1 and 2 areshifted toward each other to a folded position as shown in full outlinesin Fig. 2, which causes the retraction of the shoulders 6 from theinclined ledges 7. The edge of the article to be supported is theninserted between the shoulders 6 and ledges 7 and the members 1 and 2are shifted apart so as to cause the shoulders 6 to grip the articlebetween them and the ledges 7. The weight of the article will, in viewof the inclined ledges 7, tend to urge the shoulders 6 more firmly intogripping engagement with the ledges 7, and so long as the article issuspended from the hanger the shoulders 6 and ledges 7 will remain ingripping position. The arm 11 may then be shifted to cause the forkedportion 12 to straddle the member 2 so that the members 1 and 2 arelocked with the shoulders 6 and ledges 7 in gripping engagement. Thehanger is connected to the supporting member 14 by elevating the outerend thereof and inserting the extension 13 into the space between thelugs 15 and 16 and then allowing the hanger to assume a horizontalposition whereby it is supported by the engagement of the extension 13with the lugs 15 and 16. With a plurality of the hangers supported bythe corresponding supporting members 1 1 rotatably mounted between theangle bars 20 and 21, one article after another may be swung intoposition to be viewed by prospective purchasers.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been hereinshown and described, it will. be understood that numerous details of theconstruction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A hanger of the class described comprising a pair of members spacedapart vertically, means connecting said members and adapted to permitthem to be moved toward and away from each other, and coacting shoulderscarried on one of said members and on said means and adapted to be urgedinto gripping engagement by the shifting of said members apart as causedby the weight of an article placed between the shoulders, for thepurpose specified.

2. A hanger of the class described, comprising a supporting member, aninclined ledge formed on said member, an arm shiftably supported on saidmember, and a shoulder carried by said arm, said arm being adapted to beshifted by the weight of an article placed between said shoulder andlodge and thereby cause the gripping of said article between saidshoulder and ledge.

3. A hanger of the class described, com prising a pair of membersrelatively movable toward and away from each other, an inclined ledge onone of said members, and an arm on the other said member having ashoulder thereon and being movable into engagement with said ledge whensaid members are shifted apart, for the purpose specified.

1. A hanger of the class described, comprising a pair of members,parallel links connecting said members to permit them to be moved towardand away from each other, coacting shoulders carried by one of saidmembers and by said links, said shoulders being urged into grippingengagement by the shifting of said members apart as caused by the weightof an article placed between the shoulders, and means for locking saidshoulders in gripping engagement.

5. A hanger of the class described, comprising a supporting member, aninclined ledge formed on said member, an arm shiftably supported on saidmember, a shoulder carried by said arm, said arm being adapted to beshifted by the weight of an article placed between said shoulder andledge and thereby cause the gripping of said article between saidshoulder and ledge, and means for locking said members against shiftingso as to secure said shoulder and ledge in gripping position.

6. A hanger of the class described, comprising a pair of members, linksconnecting said members to permit them to be relatively moved toward andaway from each other, inclined ledges on one of said members, armscarried by said links, and shoulders on said arms, said shoulders beingadapted to be shifted into engagement with said ledges by the movementof said links as caused by the shifting of said members apart.

7. A hanger of the class described, c0mprising a pair of members, linksconnecting said members to permit them to be relatively moved toward andaway from each other, inclined ledges on one of said members, armscarried by said links, shoulders on said arms, said shoulders beingadapted to be shifted into engagement with said ledges by the movementof said links as caused by the shifting of said members apart, and a barsecured to one of said members and engaging the other said member so asto limit the movement of said members away from each other.

8. A hanger of the class described, comprising a pair of horizontallydisposed members located one above the other, means connecting saidmembers and adapted to permit them to be moved toward and away from eachother, inclined ledges formed on the upper of said members, arms carriedby the lower of said members and extending up-V wardly at the rear ofsaid upper member and depending at the front thereof, and shoulderscarried by said depending parts, said shoulders being adapted to beurged into engagement with said inclined ledges when said members arerelatively shifted apart, and to be retracted from said ledges when saidmembers are relatively shifted toward each other.

9. A hanger of the class described, comprising a pair of members, linksconnecting said members and adapted to permit them to be moved towardand away from each other, inclined ledges integrally formed on the upperof said members, arms carried by said links and extending upwardly atthe rear of said members and depending at the front of said uppermember, and shoulders carried by said depending parts adapted to beshifted into engagement with said inclined ledges when said members areshifted apart. I

10. A hanger of the class described, comprising a pair of members, linksconnecting said members and adapted to permit them to be moved towardand away from each other, inclined ledges integrally formed on the upperof said members, arms carried by said links and extending upwardly atthe rear of said members and depending at the front of said uppermember, shoulders carried by said depending parts adapted to be shiftedinto engagement with said inclined ledges when said members are shiftedapart, and friction means covering said shoulders.

Signed at Escanaba 1913.

THOMAS A. OLEARY. CARL A. JOHNSON. Witnesses:

MICHAEL DormR'rY, HANSEN E. SMITH.

Gopies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

